Sitting in an outrigger canoe with his older brother at the age of seven, Dan Gampon's life was about to change forever.

As part of the water patrol for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, the boys stared on in anticipation as hundreds of swimmers amassed for the start of the race. "Just watching the cannon go off gave me chicken skin," recalls Gampon.

As a young boy, Gampon watched triathletes descend upon his small town from around the world and it left an unforgettable mark. "I want to be like an Olympian," Gampon remembers thinking. "I want to be an IRONMAN."

When he was 18, Gampon finally got the chance to fulfill his dream when he won a local drawing spot into the IRONMAN World Championship. He crossed the finish line in 11 hours, 48 minutes and 49 seconds with a leaping, screaming, fist-pumping celebration that was captured in NBC's annual broadcast.

A magnetic strip illustrating that finishing time is still attached to Gampon's refrigerator. "Whenever I look at that time, it brings me back to all the feelings I had during that race," says Gampon.

Gampon was first introduced to the sport in high school by his math teacher, Kristin Old. Old was a triathlete and started a tri club at the school. Standing tall at five-foot-four, Gampon wrestled and ran cross country in high school.

"Dan was always highly motivated, regardless of the task," says Old. "Whether it was wrestling, cross country or academics, the kid was just 100 percent all the time. He was a born leader."

Old is proud of Gampon's athletic accomplishments, but she's most proud of how he gives back—by sharing his knowledge at clinics and volunteering at kids' races. "He hasn't forgotten his roots," says Old.

After tackling a few Olympic-distance triathlons during his senior year of high school, Gampon and one of his best friends, Keoni Smith, decided to step up to the next level and enter IRONMAN 70.3 Hawai'i.

But Smith had bigger ideas and spontaneously suggested they enter the IRONMAN World Championship drawing.

"Dude, are you crazy?" replied Gampon. But he couldn’t resist the challenge.

Over the course of a few memorable weeks, Gampon and Smith graduated from high school, crossed the finish line at IRONMAN 70.3 Hawai'i and found out they were selected in the drawing to race at the IRONMAN World Championship in October.

And as luck would have it, Gampon's former math teacher, Old, also won a drawing spot. Teacher and students finished within 22 minutes of each other—Old in 11:27:00, Smith in 11:28:01 and Gampon in 11:48:49.

Since taking up the sport, Gampon has run thousands of miles, but those 26.2 miles he covered during the IRONMAN World Championship were the most impactful of his life.

Locals filled his ears with applause in the early going along Ali'i Drive.

But as the cheers and spectators faded into the distance and Gampon jogged into solitude along the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway, pain and doubt crept in. A slow jog turned into a walk. With about eight miles to go, sharp stabbing pains attacked his sides.

"I thought I was going to die," he says. "Every step I took just hurt." Despite the heat, Gampon felt chills and wasn’t sweating. He hadn't taken in nearly enough fluids.

Just three miles from the finish, he was crying. "It was the pain and the emotion," Gampon says. "That run changed my life. I felt like a ton of fireworks."

Triathlon has taken Gampon to places he never would’ve imagined—racing around the world and qualifying for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship three times. And through it, he found love.

Back in high school when Old started that triathlon club, a girl from another high school joined the group, Merdedes DeCarli. Gampon and DeCarli have been dating for five years and plan on getting married.

DeCarli, who finished the IRONMAN World Championship in 2016, values the perseverance Gampon gained from triathlon and applied to other aspects of his life.

"When things get tough, he's good at putting his head down, working hard and getting through it," she says. "He’s definitely a little guy with a big heart."

This past June, Gampon finished third in his age group and was the first Hawai'i state athlete at IRONMAN 70.3 Hawai'i. The result qualified him for the IRONMAN World Championship the following October.

Gampon hasn’t competed in an IRONMAN World Championship since that memorable day when he was 18. He's looking forward to digging deep again. But most of all, he's looking forward to giving his all in front of family and friends.

"My whole life I’ve thought the world is huge," says Gampon. "But I’ve realized how big an impact a small town can have. During the IRONMAN World Championship, the whole town shows up and it's amazing to see a little town come alive.